Billy Southworth’s St. Louis Swifties

New York World-Telegram cartoonist Willard Mullin labeled Billy Southworth’s 1942 Cardinals the “St. Louis Swifties.” They were a young and determined ball club utilizing speed, great defense and good pitching to stage one of the greatest pennant drives of all time, winning 43 of their last 51 games in August and September to clinch the pennant on the last day of the season to beat out a talented Brooklyn Dodgers team.

Although they stole only 71 bases, the 1942 Cardinals ran with a purpose, routinely stretching singles into doubles, doubles into triples. They hustled from first to third or scored from second base on most base hits and tagged up and scored from third on almost every fly ball. Casey Stengel, Boston Braves manager, called them a “track team that ran like uncaged rabbits.’

Shortstop Marty Marion cemented an air-tight defense in the infield and Terry Moore, their captain and team leader along with two future Hall of Famers, Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter, closed the gaps in the outfield with acrobatic catches. A pitching staff that included two twenty-game winners, Mart Cooper and rookie Johnny Beazley, held opponents to only 3.1 runs per game, fewest in the National League.

The l942 Cardinals displayed an “espirit de corps” resulting from the fact that virtually every one of the players had been schooled in and risen from Branch Rickey’s innovative and productive farm system. They were also one of the youngest teams to win a pennant, averaging only 26 years of age. Terry Moore was the oldest regular at age 30.

Experts had picked the Brooklyn Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals as co-favorites for the National League pennant in 1942. The 1941 Cardinals, plagued with key injuries to Terry Moore (beaned), Enos Slaughter (fractured collar bone), Walker Cooper (fractured shoulder blade), Mart Cooper (surgery for elbow chips), Johnny Mize (broken finger) and Jimmy Brown(fractured hand) had waged a constant battle with the Brooklyn Dodgers from April through September. For almost the entire 1941 season, the teams were within two games of each other, until the Dodgers eventually clinched the pennant three days before the end of the season. The Dodgers finished the season 100-54, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Cardinals who finished with a record of 97-56.

While their near-miss in 1941 was disappointing to the Cardinals, they did call up three players from their farm system in September who would make key contributions in the 1942 pennant race. The new players joining the Cardinals in September of 1941 were outfielder Stan Musial, third baseman George Kurowski, and pitcher Johnny Beazley. Musial batted .426 in twelve games. Kurowski appeared in five games for the Cardinals, batting .333 (3 hits in 9 appearances), and Beazley made his major league debut as a starting pitcher on September 28, 1941 and pitched a 9-inning complete game victory, allowing only one run.

The Cardinals would make one other key move, this one after the 1941 season. Ray Sanders was another young prospect of the Cardinals’ farm system, a first baseman. He was asked to report to the Cardinals in spring training in 1942. In order to make way for him, on December 11, 1941, the Cardinals traded their slugging first baseman Johnny Mize to the New York Giants for cash and three players, catcher Ken O’Dea, pitcher Bill Lohrman, and reserve first baseman Johnny McCarthy.

The opening day line-up for Billy Southworth’s 1942 Cardinals included Ray Sanders 1B, Frank Crespi 2B, Marty Marion SS, Jimmy Brown 3B, Stan Musial LF, Terry Moore CF, Enos Slaughter RF, Walker Cooper C, and Mort Cooper P. They lost on opening day before a good crowd at Sportsman’s Park to the Chicago Cubs, 5-4. They continued to struggle, being shutout in five of their first twenty-four games and were only at .500 winning 15 and losing 15 after their first thirty games, while the Brooklyn Dodgers led the league from the first week of the season. The Cardinals did move into second place in late May by winning four games in a row and then proceeded to win seven in a row in early June before starting to sputter again. By late June, Billy Southworth revamped his lineup. Making several changes in the starting infield. Marty Marion would be the only infielder keeping the same job all season. Southworth moved George Kurowski in as the regular third baseman, he shifted Jimmy Brown to second base replacing Frank Crespi, and he had Johnny Hopp replace Ray Sanders at first base.

The Dodgers continued rolling up victories, winning four out of five games from the Cardinals at Ebbets Field. The Dodgers ended the first half of the schedule with a record of 55-22, building up an eight-game lead on the Cardinals, whose record at the half-way point of the season was 47-30.

While the Dodgers had built up a 10-game lead on August 5, 1942, the Cardinals were starting to catch fire. They were to lose two games in a row once during the second half of the season, and had begun their August, September record drive of winning 43 of their last 51 games.

The Cardinals had won nine of their last ten before the Dodgers came to St. Louis for a key four-game series, August 24-27. “Pass the Biscuits Mirandy” had become the Cardinals fight song to be played constantly in the club house. Mort Cooper, who defied superstitions by wearing uniform # 13, was wearing uniforms from his teammates to coincide with whichever victory number he was seeking.

The Dodgers came to town leading by 7 l/2 games, but the Cardinals won three of the four games. Lofty Max Lanier beat Larry French and the Dodgers 7-1 in the opener. Mort Cooper and Whitlow Wyatt engaged in a twelve-inning scoreless pitching duel the next evening. Both the Dodgers and Cardinals scored a run in the thirteenth inning. Mort Cooper became the winner as the Cardinals scored a run in the bottom of the fourteenth inning to beat the Dodgers 2-1. The following day, Johnny Beazley beat the Dodgers 2-1 in a ten-inning game. Max Lanier came back and attempted to start the final game with only two days rest, but was defeated by Curt Davis and the Dodgers 4-1. The Dodgers lead was reduced to 5 1/2 games with 30 games to play.

The Cardinals continued their winning ways. By their next showdown with the Dodgers on September 11th and 12th at Ebbets Field, the Brooklyn lead was down to 2 games. Mort Cooper was again paired against Whitlow Wyatt for the opener of the two-game series. Cooper went onto pitch a three-hit shutout, beating the Dodgers 3-0 for his 20th victory of the season. Max Lanier won the next day against the Dodgers 2-I on Whitey Kurowski’s two-run home run. The Cardinals, having defeated the Dodgers in five of the last six games played between the two clubs, had tied the Dodgers in the standings with 14 games left to play.

On Sunday, September 13th, 1942, the Cardinals captured first place all to themselves. The Dodgers lost a doubleheader to the Cincinnati Reds, while the Cardinals split a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Cardinals maintained first place. They went onto win eleven of their final twelve games, including seven in a row and had a record of 21-4 for the month of September. Going into the final day of the season, the Cardinals had a record of 104-48, holding a 1 1/2 game lead over the Dodgers who had a record of 103-50. The Cardinals were scheduled to play the Cubs in a double-header, while the Dodgers would be playing the Phillies in a single game. The Dodgers would have to win and the Cardinals would have to lose the doubleheader for Brooklyn to tie St. Louis. The Cardinals clinched the pennant at home, Ernie White beat the Cubs 9-2 in the first game and Johnny Beazley achieved his 21st victory, beating the Cubs in the second game for good measure.

The Cardinals ended up with the most wins (106), the fewest losses (48) and best winning percentage (.688) of any Cardinals team. Their 106 wins in 1942 were the most wins by a National League pennant winner until 1975 when the Cincinnati Reds won 108 games (in a 162-game season).

Enos Slaughter led the team in batting with a .318 average (second in the league to Ernie Lombardi’s .330). Slaughter led the National League in base hits (188), triples (17), was second in runs scored (100), third in runs batted in (98), and third in slugging avenge (.494). Marty Marion led the National League in doubles (38). Stan Musial, after a slow start in his first full season in the majors, ended up batting .315 to finish right behind Enos Slaughter.

Mort Cooper, who would be voted the NL’s MVP in 1942, went 22-7, led the league in wins, ERA (1.77), starts (35) and shutouts (10). Johnny Beazley finished second in the National League with wins (2l) and second in ERA (2.13). Max Lanier finished with a record of 13-8, ERA of 2.96 and was 5-2 against the Dodgers. Mort Cooper was 5-1 against the Dodgers. The Cardinals’ pitching staff led the National League with the best ERA (2.55).

As a team, the Cardinals topped the National League in batting (.268), hits (1.454), doubles (282), triples (69), runs scored (755), slugging average (.379) and total bases (2.054).

Even though they would lose the first game of the 1942 World Series, the Cardinals would regain their momentum to beat a heavily favored New York Yankees, a team that had won its sixth pennant in seven years. Red Ruffing beat Mort Cooper and the Cardinals in the opening game at Sportsman’s Park 7-4. Ruffing had a no-hitter for 7 2/3 innings, before Terry Moore singled to right. The Yankees led 7-0 going into the bottom of the 9th. The Cardinals came up with a spirited 9th inning rally, scoring four runs and still had the bases loaded with two outs and Stan Musial at bat for the second time in the inning. As the first batter leading off the bottom of the 9th, Musial had fouled out to catcher Bill Dickey. For one of the rare times in his career, Musial would account for two outs in an inning by grounding out to first baseman Buddy Hassett.

However, the Cardinals had thrown a scare into the Yankees and gained the confidence to keep their momentum going. Johnny Beazley beat the Yankees and Ernie Bonham 4-3 in Game Two. As the series moved back to Yankee Stadium, Ernie White shut the Yankees and Spud Chandler out 3-0 in Game Three. Ernie White was supported by two outstanding defensive catches in the seventh inning, one by left fielder Stan Musial taking a home run away from Joe Gordon with a leaping catch, and the other by right fielder Enos Slaughter robbing Charlie Keller of a home run with a spectacular leap and catch. The Cardinals won Game Four in a slugfest 9-6. Max Lanier receiving the win with three scoreless innings of relief.

The “St. Louis Swifties” lopped off their fabulous 1942 season with a 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees in Game Five to become World Champions, Wtiitey Kurowski hit a two-run home run off of Red Ruffing in the top of the ninth to provide Johnny Beazley with his second complete game victory in the World Series. The Cardinals celebrated their upset triumph over the New York Yankees with a rendition of “Pass the Biscuits Mirandy” in their victorious clubhouse celebration.